Just Create - Dachshund Cuddles Edition

[soc_puppet]

The family dachshund mix was way more cuddly today than I'm used to her being, which is not in any way a complaint. She was invaluable in encouraging me to get another batch of ear/hijab savers made—by sleeping on my lap and looking adorable.

How about you? What are you working on this week? Have you finished anything, or is there something you're working on?

Here's some extra encouragement from Molly the dog for anyone who needs it! She believes in you!

Comments

[dianec42]

I am putting together a plan for a coherent wardrobe. Technically I have a capsule wardrobe - I've worn the same 4 pairs of hiking pants and the same 8 or 10 logo t-shirts for way longer than necessary - but I've set myself a goal of dressing like an adult without actually being boring. It's one of the ways I'm trying to sneak up on the concept of rejoining the world after nearly 2 years of living in lockdown mode.

P.S. Hi Molly! I love you, pupper!

[siberian_skys]

I've been writing.

I just can't get over your doggie. She's so cute.

[wolfy_writing]

I've been doing a little writing and a little drawing. I've also started learning to knit. I've attempted it a few times before, but I'm currently at the bit where I can actually make like a row of stitches. Not a very even row, but "I can successfully do bad knitting" is way ahead of "I don't know how to knit at all."

[siberian_skys]

Are you teaching yourself to knit or is someone teaching you? I've been told more than once that I can teach myself. I'm not so sure about that. I'm intimidated. I've also been told it's easier to teach yourself to crochet. I don't know what to try.

[wolfy_writing]

Teaching myself. I tried looking up a few things, and it's tricky, because I don't like instructional videos, but Wikihow's How to Knit for Beginners seems to work!

[siberian_skys]

That is good to know. Thank you.

[althea_valara]

Hi! Your friendly neighborhood fiber artist here! I do both crafts. I learned to crochet a month before I learned to knit, and took to it very easily. Knitting was a bit more difficult, but I managed that, too. But that's just MY experience. I know people who are expert knitters who can't wrap their heads around crochet. I also know crochet whizzes who are unable to knit although they've tried many times. One is not inherently easier than the other. About the only thing that may be easier is that if you crochet, you may find Continental knitting easier to pick up than English, but even THAT is not true for everyone! I know a gal who crocheted for years but could not get the hang of knitting until she tried English.

Which to try first? I'd go for whichever you're more drawn to, regardless of whether you think it might be easier. You'll have better luck attempting to make something you really, really want, instead of doing something because you think it may be easy. I do not recommend scarves for a first timer, only because they are so LONG it gets tedious. Some knitted patterns I recommend for first timers are knit a bunny from a square and easy fingerless mitts. For crochet, hmm... a basic granny square in one color is not that difficult. Or hey, here's a dead easy pattern for a mug rug.

I can give recommendations of videos if you're the type who learns well from them, but given your intimidation, I think it might be best if you learned in a class or in person from another crafter. That's how I learned both crafts, though with knitting I had to use outside resources (videos and books) to master the purl stitch.

But no matter which method you choose to learn from, I want to encourage you to give the crafts a try! The great thing about fiber arts is that if you make a mistake, you can rip back and try again. It's easier to rip back in crochet, but given it's structure you may need to undo a large amount of stitches to fix the issue (for example, if the error was several rows back, you need to pull out ALL the rows). It's a bit more difficult to rip back in knitting, but in knitting if your mistake is several rows back you can drop down the stitches above the mistake and undo just that column to fix it.

Good luck! I'm cheering you on! And feel free to ask me questions if you have any.

[siberian_skys]

Thank you so much. I'm going to save this and I'll probably take you up on the offer to answer questions. it will probably be awhile. I'm in the process of trying to get the house ready to sell and get moved. I'm in the middle of stressed out and overwhelmed with the whole moving thing. At least I have a roof over my head. I keep telling myself to stop being stressed when I am very lucky.

[althea_valara]

Congrats on your first row of knitting! I see in a later comment that you don't learn well from videos. You might like TECHKnitter -- https://techknitting.blogspot.com -- she does pictures and drawings instead of videos. Her blog is more advanced but it's an awesome resource for improving your skills and learning the why of knitting.

[wolfy_writing]

Thank you! That sounds perfect for me! And it’s very hard to find good resources that aren’t videos, so that’s really useful.

[althea_valara]

Your dog is ADORABLE. <3

I've lost track of days so I'm unsure exactly what all I got done this week, but I see I did post a fanfic on March 1st. A Softer Barb, Final Fantasy XIV, Emmanellain/Sicard, rated Teen.

The past few days I've mostly been working on a knitted shawl for myself. That shawl is Wavedeck, which I've made a few times before. It's so much fun!

I've also been knitting on a to-be-felted tote bag while watching a friend stream Final Fantasy VI Pixel Remaster.

What I need encouragement on: I desperately need to get back to crocheting the blanket for my niece. She graduates from high school in May. I had been making good progress, doing a row a day, but haven't worked on it in about two weeks so I really need to get back to it. A row doesn't take long, maybe 25 minutes at most, so I want to try doing two rows a day for a while to catch up.

[mekare]

I have done more pieces for a new character, and started sketching/planning out a series of ven more pieces focused on him.

[readera]

What a cute pooch! My pooch is also cute but he will not let me knit while he is in my lap.

I finished the back piece of my current project & started on one of the fronts. I got quite a bit done on it.

I also washed and brushed my dog. As he is a pomeranian this is a lot of brushing. He probably needs more brushing still.

[nsfwords]

That is a very encouraging doggo! I'm new to this page, and hopeful for a place to share successes, gain encouragement, and be encouraging to others.

This week I wrote and posted a complete story. This is big for me, as most of what I write are drabbles right now.

I also tried a new recipe for Four Hour Beef Stroganoff that turned out incredible. Om nom nom!

[silvercat17]

(Community creator here) That's what Just Create is supposed to be!

Good job on the story! I find drabbles plenty hard, but it's got to be a big change in mindset.

[silvercat17]

Thank you for the post!

I made it through my first week of work and it's going okay! Wearing my mask for eight hours a day is rough on my face, but I'm managing. It's a silicone mask with a replaceable filter and I have the headstraps installed instead of ear loops because it's easier with glasses, but my nose gets chafed from the top/my glasses and it's tricky to get the straps in a place where they'll stay without pulling weird on the mask.

[mistressofmuses]

Cute! I love when pups have cuddly days.

This week is more of draft two of the WIP... which has been going much faster than draft one, to my great relief.

(And last week I finished a non-writing art project, so I'm glad for that, too!)